


The Duality of Persephone - Maiden of Life and Queen of the Dead

by BlackBarnOwl



Category: Ancient Greek Religion & Lore
Genre: Background Demeter (Ancient Greek Religion & Lore), F/M, Forbidden Love, Fractured Fairy Tale, Myth Retelling, Mythology - Freeform, Overprotective Demeter (Ancient Greek Religion & Lore), Persephone Goes Willingly With Hades (Ancient Greek Religion & Lore), Pomegranates, Royalty, Two Sides to Every Story, Underworld, life and death
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-13
Updated: 2020-01-13
Packaged: 2021-02-27 07:08:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 969
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22233052
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BlackBarnOwl/pseuds/BlackBarnOwl
Summary: This is unedited and unbeta'ed. This is a short story about the kidnapping of Persephone and her side of the story. The poem that inspired it is not my own and I could not find the author, the title or original link. Originally uploaded on my Wattpad account.
Relationships: Hades/Persephone (Ancient Greek Religion & Lore)
Kudos: 37





	The Duality of Persephone - Maiden of Life and Queen of the Dead

**Author's Note:**

> This is unedited and unbeta'ed. This is a short story about the kidnapping of Persephone and her side of the story. The poem that inspired it is not my own and I could not find the author, the title or original link. Originally uploaded on my Wattpad account.

_I never wanted to be_

_less than extraordinary_

_I was the daughter of_

_the king of gods_

_a goddess in my own right_

_yet you look at me now and see_

_a little girl held captive_

_Well believe me when I say_

_I plucked the seeds_

_of my own accord_

_and Hades did not place_

_my crown upon my head_

_Does duality not fascinate you?_

_Because I am both at once:_

_a maiden goddess of life_

_and queen of all that's dead_

_I bring you springtime_

_bursting with light_

_and I leave you with winter_

_cold, dark, dreary_

_I am Persephone_

_and when you are dead_

_I will be your queen_

* * *

When people hear my tale, I am always seen as a defenceless little girl stolen from my mother's embrace by the lord of death and darkness. I am seen as the victim. Had it crossed your mind that I played a part in my own kidnapping?

From the second my consciousness was brought into this world, I knew I had been born to be extraordinary. I could sense the power thrumming through my veins; the ability to make nature thrive and be beautiful, and to make nature wither and die.

Despite being the daughter of the king of gods, my mother hid me away from my Olympian family. She raised me like a nymph; playing in the flower fields, splashing through gurgling streams, braiding the other nymphs' hair and napping together in the dappled shade of trees. My mother nurtured my powers of growth while denying me my own. She looked at me as delicate and fragile, like a flower, when I had the potential for grandeur.

Frustrated with the blindness and naivety around me, I started to experiment. When forced to wander with the bubbly, air-headed nymphs, I would pinch their tethers to nature and send them to sleep. With prying eyes no longer an issue, I would augment the growth of the rainbows of wildflowers until they reached over my head, then wither them until they were ash and pollen in the wind. The sensation of life and death under my control was intoxicating; my dark and light halves colliding to me whole for the first time in my life. These continued experiments changed my aura, which was the catalyst that finally drew Hecate out of the shadows. 

Hecate had watched me for years, saw how my mother tried to prune me and stunt me emotionally and mentally. Having sensed my potential, Hecate offered me a solution, a way out. Hades.

I could barely hide my delight. Hades was not the only one who had been watching. His dark powers were alluring and he intrigued me. I could not say yes quickly enough. We planned, and I returned to my prison with hope blossoming in my chest. Soon, I would be free.

I waited until my mother was far away, so she would not feel the change. I lured the nymphs to a pool and blocked their tethers. They would not wake for at least a day. Hecate emerged from the shadows and handed me a vial full of freezing black sludge. She disappeared once more and I drank the vial in one gulp, the liquid burning and clawing its way down my throat. I stretched my arms out wide and groaned, shivering as the wave of darkness tore through my body and rippled through the meadow, killing everything within a square kilometre. Those nymphs would not be waking after all. It did not matter, because he was here instantaneously, and he took my breath away. Hades.

A cry of joy escaped my lips and my dark king offered me his hand with a mysterious smile. I grinned wickedly and grasped my escape with both hands, taking my future for myself. I stepped into his chariot and we flew into the underworld through the large crack in the Earth from where he emerged. I stepped out into my new dominion with awe apparent on my face. Hades eyes were brimming with affection that matched my own. Mutual pinning and desire boiled over and he swept me into his arms and a heated kiss that left me gasping for oxygen. He led me to his palace and I was sworn in and married quickly and quietly. Hades knelt before me and handed me a crown of iron roses. I accepted it without hesitation and placed it atop my head. We knew I did not have much time. Hades presented me with the infamous pomegranate. I ate and laughed with him, the sound more free and joyful than it had ever been. 

A clap of thunder echoed throughout the Underworld and Hades and I shared a panicked look. I had only eaten one-third of the pomegranate. The well-known argument about where I belonged took place without acknowledging my presence. I was belittled and called ignorant and naive by the representatives of my mother and Olympus. They stole me kicking and screaming from my husband. I was forced back unto the role I hated for two-thirds of the year, reuniting blissfully with my loving husband for a small portion of each year. The myth that spring stems from my happiness of returning to the mortal realm is exactly that; a myth. The seasons changing has everything to do with my mother's perspective and bias, not mine. My mother villainizing my husband makes me seethe with rage, but she never listens.

I suppose in a way, they balance me out. My mother is light and cheerful, while my husband is dark and alluring. This is my tale. I am Queen of the Dead and Maiden of Life. Now that your soul hangs in the balance, it would do you good to remember my story as it actually is.

**THE END**


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